Aylee
Aylee was the youngest and most innocent of Mary's Ladies-In-Waiting and a close friend of Kenna, Lola, and Greer. She was characterized as thoughtful, innocent, blunt of speech, and Mary's close confidante. She came from a prominent family which according to Lola owns half of Scotland. It was predicted by Nostradamus that she would never return home. This led to her eventual murder by Clarissa in Fated which is staged as death by poisoning to validate the prediction. Her death frightens Mary and is the catalyst for her breaking off her engagement to Francis and running away from court. She was portrayed by Canadian actress, Jenessa Grant. Early Life Not much is known about her life prior to the events of the Pilot, other than that she was born to a wealthy and titled Scottish family who owns the lower half of Scotland. Season One In the Pilot, Aylee along with Greer, Lola, and Kenna arrive in France and are reunited with Mary. After they settle in, Aylee suggests the girls take a tour of the castle as they haven't been there in years. After Mary's dog Stirling runs into the woods and Bash offers to find him, Aylee counsels Mary to stay away from Bash because he has a bad reputation. At the wedding party for Elisabeth and Phillip, the girls dance and have fun and Aylee to the original script drinks the drugged wine intended for Mary. During the consummation ceremony, the girls spy on the newlyweds and each are affected differently. Aylee is shown to be slightly bewildered and shocked-- either from the effects of the wine or at having witnessed the couple having sex. After the night when Colin wanted to rape Mary, Aylee with Kenna and Greer look worried about Mary's virtue and when they realize that Colin's dead, they try to console Lola. In Snakes in the Garden, she is first seen eating breakfast and discussing who is against Mary Stuart. She later attends a celebration with the rest of the Ladies-In-Waiting. Later she is with the King, Queen, Mary, and the other ladies-in-waiting listening to whom might have been behind on the attack on Mary. She also attends a celebration outside with everyone else in the French Court. In Kissed, She is first seen outside talking to the other ladies-in-waiting about their first kisses. When Greer reveals her interest in Tomás, Aylee warns her not to get involved with a royal because they marry for alliances and her family are commoners. Later, she talks privately with Mary about her marriage proposal from Tomás and whether she should take it or not. She later attends festivities in the castle where Nostradamus predicts that she will never go home. In Hearts and Minds, Aylee comments about Tomas’ personality change over the last few days, saying he is bolder with his actions. Mary, Aylee, Greer, and Kenna discuss Mary and Tomas’ future, and Mary reminds them the engagement is supposed to be a secret until Henry releases her from her engagement with Francis. In'' A Chill in the Air, Aylee trips in the hallway and the ring that she was carrying lands at the feet of Queen Catherine, who notes that this is Mary's ring. Aylee admits to taking things sometimes because 'it makes her feel better'. Catherine sets her terms for not telling Mary about Aylee stealing the ring, thus branding the young girl as a thief and likely getting her sent away from court in shame. Aylee is to intercept the letters that Mary writes to her mother, Marie de Guise, and bring them to Catherine before they're sent to Scotland; Catherine argues that she doesn't think that Mary's happy and wants to know how to better her future daughter-in-law's time at court. At the end of the episode, Aylee informs Mary of the information that she has learned from Catherine, and Mary indicates that she thinks that Catherine is behind Olivia's reappearance at the castle. Aylee may therefore be a double agent and her 'theft' of Mary's ring a ploy enabling Mary to get an ally close to the Queen. In ''Chosen, Aylee gathers like all the others at court outside to greet the king. Aylee along with Lola and Greer receive an invitation to a gathering in the kings chambers. They assume it's Diane who wants to meet with them but it turns out to be Kenna. She proceeds to tell them she's his mistress, an expression of surprise takes over Aylee's face. When they all sit down Aylee asks her to give them all the details of their relationship, asking her tons of questions. She then watches the fireworks with the rest of the ladies-In-Waiting. In Left Behind, when the castle is stormed, Aylee retreats to a room with Mary, Lola, and Kenna. They discuss what will happen and what they will do. Later, Catherine joins them to prep them to survive trough the dinner. When Lola talks back to her, Aylee defends her telling them that she wants to help. When she tells her story Aylee asks her what happened after she heard the men's laughter. She then attends the dinner with Mary, Catherine, Lola, and Kenna. When she and the other ladies try to escape the castle, they arrive at the secret passage way only to discover Olivia had left and they are trapped. They are forced to return to the dinner where the men attempt to rape them. She asks the Queen why she didn't tell them about her plan to poison the men. He said I’d never go home again. (Aylee on her death) In Fated, Aylee is poisoned by Clarissa using her ring, in an attempt to prove to Mary that the prophecy was real. The poison quickly takes effect, causing Aylee to stumble along the castle corridors in a violent coughing fit. At the top of a staircase, Clarissa who has been trailing Aylee, pushes her from behind. Castle attendants and her friends discover her bleeding profusely from a lethal wound to the head. In her last moments, Aylee weakly declares that it is time for her to go home, and dies, with her friends bewailing her loss. Nostradamus' foretelling that Aylee would never return home thus comes to pass. In, For King and Country, Mary tells Francis that if Nostradamus was right about Aylee that he is right about Francis dying if they marry, and flees the castle to protect him. Personality Although young and innocent-looking, Aylee seemed to be steadfast in her moral convictions. Aylee also demonstrated having received a solid Catholic education: In A Chill in the Air, Aylee reads a passage from Virgil's Aeneid (in Classical Latin) to her friends. In A Chill in the Air, Catherine catches Aylee red-handed seemingly taking Mary's signet ring. While it appeared that Aylee was a kleptomaniac, it was later revealed that she had used the ploy in order to gain Catherine's trust-- possibly at Mary's behest. This indicates that Aylee is capable of subterfuge and a firm ally of Mary's. Physical Appearance Aylee has hazel eyes, and blonde hair which she usually wears braided. "For Aylee, she always felt probably the most conservative out of the girls, a little more reserved, a little more law-abiding so to speak. I always envisioned her as the prep, the preppy girl as she would be in modern times. So we kept her in a lot of creams. Ironically, old vintage wedding dresses really kind of started working for her, so we got this collection in and these beautiful kind of 1950s and '60s wedding gowns that we then would kind of take apart and jewel or do something to make them her own." Meredith Markworth-Pollack about Aylee. Relationships Mary Stuart Aylee was one of Mary's Ladies-In-Waiting and close friend. They first met during childhood when Aylee was chosen to be one of Mary's ladies. They were reunited when they returned to French Court. They had a very caring and protective friendship. For example when Mary defended Aylee's feelings after Nostradamus frightened her with his prediction. Aylee was also protective over Mary when Tomas turned out to be horrid, begging her not to marry him. Aylee died in Mary's arms and Mary was devastated at the loss of her friend and lady. (See Mary and Aylee) Lola Lola and Aylee first met in childhood when they were both chosen to be part of Mary's ladies-in-waiting. Their friendships was comforting in nature, after the siege of court during Left Behind they comforted each other. When Aylee past Lola was grieved alongside the rest of their group of friends which both of them spent most of their time with. (See Lola and Aylee) Kenna Aylee and Kenna were close friends and both ladies-in-waiting for Mary. They both left their home in Scotland to live in France. They spent most of their time together within their group of friends consisting of Lola, Mary and Greer. Aylee was with Kenna when Henry declared his love for her. Kenna along with the rest of her friends was devastated by Aylee's death. (See Kenna and Aylee) Greer Castleroy Aylee and Greer were close friends and both ladies-in-waiting for Mary. They both left their home in Scotland to live in France. They spent most of their time together within their group of friends consisting of Lola, Mary and Kenna. Greer along with the rest of her friends was devastated by Aylee's death. (See Greer and Aylee) Appearances Name *'Aylee' is a feminine given name, it has its origins in the Old French and English languages. Meaning "One who lives near an oak tree". * The correct spelling of 'Aylee' is 'Eilidh'. It is a Scots-Gaelic name thought to derive from 'Aveline' or 'Helen'. 'Ay-lee' is an Anglicised phonetic spelling and would not be used in Scotland. Trivia *Historically, Mary's four Ladies-In-Waiting were all named "Mary". **Mary Fleming **Mary Seton **Mary Beaton **Mary Livingston *She's fluent in Italian. *Aylee's family owns half of Scotland. *Aylee was the first main character to die, as she died in Fated. *She only appeared in 8 episodes of the first season. *First main character to not get a full storyline about her life. *Mary mentions in Safe Passage on how she misses Aylee and her other ladies. Gallery See Also Category:Character Category:Main Character Category:Season One Character Category:Protagonist Category:Scottish Category:French Court Resident Category:Noble Category:Lady-In-Waiting Category:Lady Category:Catholic Category:Deceased Category:Female Character Category:Featured Article